Posted by Brad Johnson on 05/23/2008 at 09:09AM
On Wednesday, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) announced her
support
for S. 3036, saying it “mirrors closely” the Kerry-Snowe Global
Reduction Act (S.
485), which
calls for a 65 percent reduction from 2000 levels of greenhouse gases by
2050. Snowe also noted that language from the Feinstein-Snowe Emission
Allowance Market Transparency Act (S.
2423) was
included in the manager’s mark.
Unlike Lieberman-Warner, Kerry-Snowe also sets a goal of achieving a
greenhouse gas stabilization target of 450 ppm, and calls for the
establishment of vehicle emissions standards. In Snowe’s press release,
she states that Lieberman-Warner “would reduce greenhouse gas emissions
by at least 66 percent by 2050,” although
NRDC analysis of the
bill
finds that Lieberman-Warner would only achieve reductions between 60 to
65 percent from 2000 levels.
Posted by Brad Johnson on 05/23/2008 at 08:07AM
On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced Sen.
Barbara Boxer’s (D-Calif.) manager’s
mark
of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act (S. 2191) as a new bill,
numbered S.
3036. S. 3036
will be the vehicle for the floor debate of the cap-and-trade
legislation. On Thursday, Reid filed for cloture on a motion to proceed
onto the bill, setting the stage for a 5:30 p.m. vote on June 2, one
week from Monday. According to E&E
News, “Few expect the
vote to be contentious.”
“It may even end up being 99-0,” said Andrew Wheeler, staff director
for Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ranking member James
Inhofe (R-Okla.). Inhofe plans to back this procedural step as a
gateway to a bigger debate over the merits of the legislation, Wheeler
said.
Reid, Boxer, and the bill’s co-sponsors, Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and
John Warner (R-Va.), have not determined what terms they will seek for
the debate and amendment process. Reid has the option of exerting
privilege to block unwanted amendments by “filling the tree” with his
own.
Posted by Brad Johnson on 05/21/2008 at 04:27PM
Download the Full document. Titles are
after the break.
Posted by on 05/19/2008 at 02:25PM
From the Wonk Room.
House Oversight and Government
Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) has today released
documents and testimony that show White House
involvement in the
Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to deny California’s
request for a waiver to enforce its greenhouse gas emissions standards
for cars and trucks.
According to testimony by former EPA Associate
Deputy Administrator Jason Burnett, EPA
Administrator Stephen Johnson’s “preference for a full or partial grant
of the waiver did not change until after he communicated with the White
House” :
When asked by Committee staff “whether the Administrator communicated
with the White House in between his preference to do a partial grant
and the ultimate decision” to deny the waiver, Mr. Burnett responded:
“I believe the answer is yes.” When asked “after his
communications with the White House, did he still support granting the
waiver in part,” Mr. Burnett answered: “He ultimately decided to deny
the waiver.” Mr. Burnett also affirmed that there was “White House
input into the rationale in the December 19th letter” announcing the
denial of the waiver and in the formal decision document issued in
March 2008.
Burnett refused to testify on any further specifics, telling the
investigators “that he had been directed not to answer any questions
about the involvement of the White House in the decision to reject
California’s petition.” Burnett, who was involved in a series of
questionable EPA decisions during his
tenure,
resigned from the EPA on May 6.
Posted by Brad Johnson on 05/19/2008 at 02:02PM
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has released an overview of the “global
warming substitute amendment” to the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security
Act (S. 2191) that will be the subject of debate during the first week
of June.
Changes from the version of Lieberman-Warner that was passed out of the
Committee on Environment and Public Works last year include:
- Title V, Subtitle C: Emergency Off-Ramps. “If the price of carbon
allowances reaches a certain price range, there is a mechanism that
will automatically release additional emission allowances onto the
market to lower the price. The additional allowances are borrowed so
that the environmental integrity of the caps over the long term is
protected.”
- Title V, Subtitle I: Financial Relief for Consumers. “The bill sets
aside a nearly $800 billion tax relief fund through 2050, which will
help consumers in need of assistance related to energy costs. The
precise details of the relief will be developed by the Finance
committee.”
- Title XIV: Deficit Neutrality. “This section
auctions allowances and transfers the proceeds to the Treasury to
ensure that the bill is deficit-neutral.”
Full document.
Posted by on 05/16/2008 at 06:01PM
On May 16, 2008 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced
that it is seeking comments regarding a recent petition to reduce the
volume of renewable fuels required under the Renewable Fuel Standard
(RFS). In a letter sent to EPA on April 25,
2008, Governor Rick Perry of Texas requested that the
EPA cut the RFS
mandate for ethanol production in half (RFS mandate for 2008 is 9
billion gallons), citing recent economic impacts in Texas. In response,
EPA will soon publish a Federal Register
Notice opening a 30-day comment period on the request.
In the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which established the
RFS program, provisions were included enabling
the EPA Administrator to suspend part of the
RFS if its implementation would severely harm
the economy or environment of a state, region, or the entire country.
EPA must make a decision on a waiver request
within 90 days of receiving it.
EPA Renewable Fuel Standard
Program
EPA Notice
(PDF)
The Effects of Ethanol on Texas Food and Feed
(PDF) — Study from
Texas A&M University (April 2008)
If you have questions, please email or call Jetta Wong at jwong [at]
eesi.org or (202) 662-1885.
Posted by on 05/15/2008 at 08:16AM
Originally posted at the Wonk Room.
After years of delay, Secretary of the Interior Dirk
Kempthorne made a landmark decision on whether global warming pollution
is regulated by the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Kempthorne ruled that
the polar bear should be classified as a “threatened species” due to the
decline of polar sea ice, critical to its survival. Kempthorne stated:
They are likely to become endangered in the near future.
The Department of Interior, under Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, fought for
several years in the courts since
2005
to avoid making a decision on whether the precipitous decline in Arctic
sea
ice
due to global warming is making the polar bear an endangered species.
Fish and Wildlife Service director Dale Hall testified in
January
that there was no significant scientific uncertainty in the endangerment
posed by global warming to polar bears—the only legal justification
under the Endangered Species Act for a delay.
Kempthone’s decision to follow the science is in marked contrast to
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson’s action
to override his staff in refusing to regulate tailpipe greenhouse gas
emissions.
However, Kempthorne also argued vigorously that his decison does not
compel the Bush administration to construct a plan to regulate
greenhouse gas
emissions,
repeating President Bush’s entirely spurious
claim that would be a
“wholly inappropriate use” of the Endangered Species Act. The Interior
news release announces, “Rule will allow continuation of vital energy
production in
Alaska.”
Kempthorne claimed that the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) is “more
stringent” than the ESA, despite the court
ruling that compelled him to make today’s ruling stating that “the
protections afforded under the ESA far
surpass those provided by the
MMPA.”
Posted by on 05/12/2008 at 01:39PM
McCain campaign talking points, question-and-answer and “fact sheet”
handouts.
Here is the full text of Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) speech on climate
change in Portland, Oregon, as prepared for delivery:
Posted by on 05/08/2008 at 05:10PM
From the Wonk Room.
The scheduled Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing today on
White House interference with ozone
standards has been the
hearing has been
postponed
because EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson
refused to appear:
EPA officials say Johnson had a “recurrence of ongoing back issues
stemming from a car accident years ago.”
Below is the current status of a number of EPA
scandals Congress is expecting Administrator Johnson to answer for:
Posted by Brad Johnson on 05/08/2008 at 05:08PM
On Wednesday, House leadership told reporters that they are having
another go at an extension of the renewable and energy-efficiency tax
credits that has been stalled since last year. From E&E
News:
The House Ways and Means Committee will likely take up the new package
next week and will bring it to the floor sometime before Memorial Day,
Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) told reporters yesterday. The
renewable energy package will be part of a broader multibillion dollar
package of “tax extenders” for various items that are set to expire
this year.
“Before the Memorial Day break, we will be bringing to the floor a
comprehensive energy tax package that promotes research and
development and promotes efficiency,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) said yesterday. “The resources are there, the motivation is
real, and I think they have reached some level of agreement with the
Senate,” she added.
Sen. Max Baucus, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has included the
renewable tax credits with a package that would also extend tax credits
against the Alternative Minimum Tax, the Alternative Minimum Tax and
Extenders Tax Relief Act of 2008 (S.
2886).
Neither effort provides funding mechanisms.